Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Decades ago, in every Deepavali Special issues – there will be jokes
on ‘bridegrooms sought’ – it was
considered that persons in lower cadre of Govt too were considered best
– as the thinking was ‘Govt. job is permanent and hence most preferred’. A couple of decades back, IT revolution
created the thinking that ‘IT & ITES’ are the most earning group and hence
the elites. Is life in a Private Company always ‘plush’ – or does the sword of
Damocles hangs always ? – the truth coule be in between and for some – closer
to one of the extremes and there cannot be any generalisation ! Those in their middle ages can easily recall
that most of their neighbours / relatives joined in small Companies in the
bylanes of Parrys and happily retired there too – and yet brought up their
families providing them the basic necessities.

In Private Companies, there
will be income disparities – there is possibility of people negotiating a
better deal over those in higher cadre – those getting incentive by hardwork,
good presentation and better negotiation skills. For those who compare, life
could be constant hell – giving no peace of mind at all. ~ and then there is
the dreaded ‘pink slip’ – they say that the Company may suddenly think that
‘skillsets’ of one are no longer required and if that person does not adapt to
changing needs – would find neglected and nearer exit path. Is that fair ? –
should loyalty be punished ? – how to find an alternative employment after
spending donkey years ? – Qs and more Qs – there will be no answers.

Pink slip refers to the
American practice, by a personnel department, of including a discharge notice
in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of his or her termination of
employment or layoff. The "pink slip" has become a metonymy for the
termination of employment in general.
Whether such notices are really served in ‘pink-coloured’ paper ? – that
too in the age of e-mail communication ??
- In the UK and Ireland the equivalent of a pink slip is a P45. Now read this newsitem in today’s Times of
India ‘HC restrains TCS from terminating woman employee’

The Madras
high court on Tuesday restrained IT major Tata Consultancy Services from
terminating the services of a pregnant employee for a period of four weeks.
Justice M Duraiswamy issued the interim order on a plea filed by 32-year-old
Renuka (name changed), who said she was served termination orders on December
22, 2014, and she was to be relieved from service on January 21, 2015. The
reported largescale retrenchment at TCS has been the topic of animated
discussions on various social media sites for the past few weeks. On their
part, trade unions have been trying to gain a toe-hold in the IT sector by
mobilising software professionals.

Reacting to
Tuesday's development, a TCS spokesperson said: “We have not received any court
order regarding this. TCS conducts its performance appraisal process in a fair
and professional manner. In this situation, we will review the issues raised in
a responsible and considerate manner.” In her petition in the high court,
Renuka said: “If, out of the blue, I am deprived of my job, I will be exposed
to great hardship. I have to pay off my housing loan. If I am relieved from
service, I will not have the benefit of the company's health insurance scheme
during my delivery .” She said she had been unfairly shortlisted for
termination though she had a good service record, and in gross violation of key
provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Renuka said
she joined the company in Chennai in March 2011 as an IT analyst.She is a
`workman' as per Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as her main
duties and responsibilities are technical and clerical in nature, she said.
Noting that she was honest, sincere and dedicated, she said her performance had
always been very good.

No mass
layoffs, says company: TCS on Tuesday broke its silence on reports of alleged
mass layoffs. “We would like to place on record that TCS has not initiated, and
is not planning to initiate, any largescale exits of any section of its staff
in any part of the organisation,“ it said in a statement. It said it had
clarified to its employees that the layoff claims were false and baseless. As
per TCS data, it lost 2,574 employees (0.8% of the total employee strength) due
to involuntary attrition for the first nine months of 2014-15.The number was
2,203 in FY14 and 2,132 in FY13.

Now to Damocles Sword - To his king, Dionysius, Damocles exclaimed that,
as a great man of power and authority surrounded by magnificence, Dionysius was
truly extremely fortunate. Dionysius then offered to switch places with
Damocles, so that Damocles could taste that very fortune firsthand. Damocles
quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the
king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge
sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of
a horse's tail. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart
because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great
fortune and power comes also great responsibility. King Dionysius had successfully conveyed a
sense of the constant fear in which the great man lives.